The fast food business is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States, as well as the world. In the United States alone, there are presently over 200,000 fast food restaurants serving over 50 million patrons daily. The fast food industry makes over $120 billion in sales annually, and the revenues increase each year.
Drinks from soda fountains have the highest profit margins in the fast food industry, as compared to can or bottled drinks Soda fountain drinks are usually provided to patrons by way of a soda fountain where a desired amount of ice is first dispensed in a cup, and then a selected flavor of soda is also dispensed into the cup. Lastly, the patron obtains a soda straw from a dispenser of various types, and places the same in the cup to enjoy the drink with the fast food. As can be appreciated, there are millions of soda straws dispensed to users every day.
One concern in the fast food industry is the sanitary measures that must be taken in order to prevent germs and other disease carrying agents from being passed from either the food preparers or from the patrons themselves to other patrons of the fast food restaurant. Soda straws constitute one medium in which germs can be passed to patrons who use the soda straw dispensers. Many dispensers of soda straws simply constitute a container where plastic sleeve covered straws are made available, and the patron or consumer selects a straw and picks it out of the inventory of straws. This is the simplest type of dispenser, but the straws are usually covered with a plastic sleeve which protects the individual straws from germs that may be carried by the patrons. Because the straws involve an additional process of covering them with the protective sleeves, such straws are more expensive. Additionally, users can grab a number of straws and use only a few, thereby resulting in the waste of soda straws. Other dispensers are more costly, but allow uncovered straws to be dispensed to thereby reduce the waste of straws. But, in this instance, users can touch the straws made available, in that a number of straws can be dispensed and made available to the user without the user taking all of the straws. This presents the opportunity to allow germs to pass from one patron who touches many of the available straws but takes only one straw from the dispenser. The next patron who takes an available straw left over by the previous patron may come into contact with germs left on the available straws. With millions of straws dispensed daily, it can be appreciated that there is an opportunity to communicate germs from straws to many patrons.
In addition to the foregoing, when the straws are not sheathed with a protective cover, employees of the restaurant must periodically fill the dispenser with the unsheathed straws. Unless the employees are very careful in washing their hands or otherwise disinfecting their hands, they have an opportunity to pass germs to the straws as they are withdrawn from the box and placed into the dispenser.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that there is a need for an improved technique to dispense soda straws to users, while substantially reducing the possibility of passing germs from one person to another via the dispensing of the straws. Another need exists for a method of packaging unsheathed straws so that the only person touching the individual straw is the person who wishes to dispense a straw and use the same. To that end, the straws can be boxed at a manufacturing plant without the straws being touched by any person, the straws can be placed with the box in the dispenser without any person touching the straws, and each straw is dispensed to a user who wants a straw, and multiple straws cannot be dispensed without each straw being taken by a user. In other words, if a straw is made available to a user and not taken, then another straw cannot be made available until that one is taken.